John Moxley: Triano's Killer Should be Tried as an Adult

In 1975 my sister Martha was murdered in Greenwich, Conn. She was beaten and stabbed with a golf club and although she was not raped there was a frustrated sexual element to the crime.

Twenty-seven years later Michael Skakel, who had been our neighbor in 1975 was arrested and charged with murdering Martha. Michael, who was 15 in 1975 was prosecuted and convicted in 2002 as an adult and is now serving a 20-years-to-life sentence in prison.

When Michael was arrested in 2000, it was assumed he would be prosecuted as a juvenile and that assumption was a fundamental aspect of his early defense as it has been throughout his subsequent appeals to the Connecticut Appellate and State Supreme Court.  

However, the Connecticut State Attorney successfully argued that Michael should be tried as an adult and that initial court decision has been subsequently upheld by the Appellate and Connecticut Supreme Courts.   

I am not an attorney but I believe the reasoning behind the Connecticut courts’ decisions to try Michael Skakel as an adult in 2002 would support the argument today as to why the individual recently arrested for the murder of should be tried as an adult. 

First and foremost, in 1975 it was not as common as it is today but there were situations when juvenile cases were tried in adult court and that alone should be enough to move this case to adult court.   

It should also be taken into consideration that the reality is, juvenile correctional facilities do not have the ability to accommodate a 51-year-old man in the event of a conviction and the only viable option is an adult facility.   

And perhaps most importantly from the “community perspective,” it would be just wrong for someone who has spent his entire adult life evading prosecution to benefit from those efforts.

Again, I am not an attorney or a resident of Westfield but I have faith that NJ legal system will get it right.

John Moxley

Short Hills